Grants awarded to Enroll DuPage partners
DUPAGE COUNTY—The DuPage County Health Department is pleased to announce that it is awarding grants to 13 DuPage County organizations that will participate in Enroll DuPage activities to conduct outreach, education and enrollment in the Illinois Health Insurance Marketplace throughout DuPage County.
Enrollment in the Marketplace will begin on Oct. 1, with pre-enrollment activities beginning this summer and coverage starting Jan. 1, 2014. The Health Department received a grant of $1 million from the Illinois Department of Public Health. The Department plans to leverage the strong network of social service providers to create a more robust opportunity for the nearly 87,000 residents estimated to be eligible for health coverage under ACA. To achieve this goal, the Health Department announced today that it is awarding grants to the following organizations: DuPage Health Coalition: Access DuPage, DuPage County Community Services, DuPage Federation on Human Services, DuPage PADS, Hamdard Center for Health & Human Services, Northwest Pediatric Services SC, Loaves & Fishes Community Pantry, Naperville Township, Outreach Community Ministries, People's Resource Center, Walk-In Ministry of Hope, Xilin Association, and YWCA Metropolitan Chicago.
The Health Department was one of 44 community-based organizations around the state of Illinois that was selected to participate in the outreach and enrollment effort for the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The state has received federal funding to cover the start-up costs and the first year of operations of the Marketplace. Selected staffers at the Health Department are taking part in an intensive training program designed to prepare them to educate consumers about the ACA and their health care options.
The Marketplace will be accessed through a user-friendly website where individuals, families and small businesses will be able to compare health care policies and premiums and purchase comprehensive health coverage. Those with income between 138 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level will receive subsidies on a sliding scale if they obtain coverage through the Marketplace.
For more information on ACA, please visit www.dupagehealth.org/affordablecaract. You can also follow the Health Department on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.
###